The deal is for five years, $35 million according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo. With Phil Jackson walking away, that would make Rivers the highest paid coach in the NBA (Gregg Popovich and Mike D’Antoni make $6 million).

After last season’s loss in the finals to the Lakers, Rivers seriously considered walking away from the Celtics to spend more time with his family. But the lure of another run with this team brought him back. After this season it was expected early on that he would walk away and spend next fall hanging out with Mike Krzyzewski as River’s son Austin is set to be a one-and-done at Duke. (Unless the new CBA makes him a two-and-done.)

Then Rivers said after the Celtics were eliminated that he was leaning heavily toward coming back, that over the last few weeks of the playoffs he realized he didn’t want to leave.

This deal is more than just getting this core group back for one more title run (which will be hard considering Miami and Chicago are only going to get better), this is about Rivers helping guide the team through its transition to what is next. That will be a team built around Rajon Rondo.

Perfect! This is a great way to start rebuilding. A great coach in place. If I was a player I would come to Boston. I would love to play for him. His goal is to win a Championship and in line to what the Celtics want and are committed to do.

Yes sir. Doc is that dude! I wish the Warriors could get someone of his caliber. He got them to the Finals twice, winning one and losing the other in 7 games that went down to the wire w/o his big man. If they add a few pieces around Rondo via Free Agency this year, they could honestly challenge for one more title before they blow up the roster.